Cellulosic products are extensively used for a variety of non-food and industrial applications. Products prepared from starch and cellulose have traditionally been used to size or finish textiles and papers; as adhesives in corrugated and laminated paperboards, remoistening gums, and wallpapers; as flocculants; as binders, as for example in foundry core binders; fabric aids; thickeners; and many other applications. Cellulose esters and ethers have been used as plastics for molding, coatings, extrusion and laminates.
Cellulose derivatives have not provided good overall substitutes for synthetic polymeric materials which are primarily produced from petrochemical raw materials. Much effort has been undertaken towards the development of new techniques which would enable the art to use cellulose-based products as a synthetic polymer replacement in applications requiring little or no water-sensitivity. The art has continued to search for effective cellulose-based products for synthetic polymer replacement.
In general, the prior art has provided cellulose acylamides which have water-sensitivity and/or which have not functioned to a high degree as a substitute for synthetic polymeric materials produced from petrochemical raw materials. Indeed, the reaction of cellulose with acrylamides is now well-known and acrylamidomethyl cellulose has been described in the art. Likewise, acryloyl, methacrylyl and crotonic esters of cellulose acetate have been disclosed in the prior art. The reaction of cellulose with N-methylolamides such as methylol ureas, methylol melamines, and methylol cyclic ureas are documented and lead to products which are cross-linked and insoluble. These products have generally found use in the textile industry to provide articles which should retain a permanent shape.
However, the prior art has not found polymerizable organic solvent-soluble cellulose products which are insoluble in water and which are copolymerizable with vinyl monomers, which can be effectively used as coatings, and which can provide more effective substitutes for synthetic polymeric materials primarily produced from petrochemical raw materials. It is recognized as being desirable to have such effective substitutes which can be derived from readily available and replenishable crops each year.